This is scary!

The following was taken from http://change.gov/americaserves/

America Serves

"When you choose to serve -- whether it's your nation, your community or simply your neighborhood -- you are connected to that fundamental American ideal that we want life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness not just for ourselves, but for all Americans. That's why it's called the American dream."

The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation’s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.



How is forcing people to work for free the American Dream?! I am also predicting that you will not be able to choose where you work, but you will have to work at a government approved "volunteer" site. I would not be surprised to see Christians required to do community "service" at abortion clinics. I am all for community service and volunteer work, but if it is not on your own terms its not volunteer or service. Since when did the American dream mean that the Government forced states, individuals, and schools to work for free? Last I checked the American dream entailed being able to come to America work your ass off for a better life for you and your family and if you're lucky you might have some left over to leave your kids. The American dream is not working for free so that other people can benefit from your time and talents. I have the right to pursue happiness, that is what the American dream is. It is not a duty to make sure other people have a chance.

I am not against helping people. I think being generous with time and talents is a very important part of life, especially the Christian's life. Once this 50-100 hours of required community service starts where will it end? These things always progress into something worse.

Maybe I will be able to organize my thoughts better later. Everything about this plan from Obama strikes me as oppression by the government.

Getting into a Routine

I have been here for almost two months now and I am starting to get into a rather nice daily routine. I am amazed that my time here is rather stress free and I am still learning a lot. I really like how it all works here. A lot less time in class and a lot more time dedicated to studying. Even the classes are better because the lectures are not bogged down by one or two people who ask the same question for 40 minutes or a professor who decided that it is a good idea to talk about the meaning of one word for 50 minutes and neglect the rest of the subject material. It is nice to sit in a lecture that has been well thought out and planned before hand. They are really more like presentations than classes.

Anyhoo, the following is a typical day for me:

1. Chapel 8:30 - 9:00
2. Breakfast 9:00-9:30
1. except on Wednesdays when I have a class at 9:00 and then go to the Buttery (a coffee shop) after class and have an English Scone and a cup of Coffee.
3. Class 10:00 - 11:00
4. Lunch 12:00
1. Many times a welcome skype date with Kali happens here and goes into reading time.
   
5. Read/study 1:00 - 4:00
   
6. Break or Run 4:00 - 5:00
7. Dinner 5:30/6:00ish
   
1. Except on Tuesdays when I have Latin from 5:00 - 6:00. Dinner generally falls around 7
8. Read 7:00 - 9:00

That is the basic pattern that has developed. Fridays I do not have classes so I review my lectures from the previous week and then read and read and read.